The sound of a light tapping awoke Piper from a nightmare, making her thrash against the blankets. Sitting straight up, she sucked in a deep breath; the glowing eyes of the monstrous dragon still burned into her vision. She blinked rapidly until it faded.

  Why is that stupid dragon always watching me in my dreams?

  Another rap against her door made her grumble. She nearly swung her feet over the edge of the bed before she remembered Lukas was sleeping on the floor. And she was in her underclothes.

  Piper spent the next few seconds pulling on her clothing under the covers. After fighting, and nearly losing to her dress, she pledged to get Lukas his own room when she got back. She did not feel comfortable having a boy in here.

  The third rap against the door nearly made her curse. “I’m coming,” she whispered, trying not to wake the others. “Hold your horses!”

  Whoever was outside the room must have heard her, because there were no more gentle knocks as she finished getting ready. Only when she sat up did she realize she’d put her dress on backwards. Which resulted in another dive under the covers.

  Once she’d finished fixing her dress, she made her way over to where she kept Gorebark hidden. She dispelled her illusion and then picked up her bow and quiver. Finally, she grabbed her cloak from a peg on the wall.

  Piper made her way to the door—stepping over the slumbering form of Lukas—and then cracked it open to see who was outside. Standing in the hallway was Basil, looking way too cheerful for this time of the morning.

  “Good morning,” he whispered. “Are you ready to travel to the aspirant’s guild?”

  Piper fought down a yawn—mainly because her jaw still ached from the punch the previous evening—and then nodded. She stepped out into the hallway and shut the door behind her.

  “What sort of quest did you say you wanted to do today again?”

  “I was hopeful we could try something a little more difficult than last time.”

  The memory of the muckling demolishing her group gave her pause. “Are you sure?”

  “With you by our side, I’m sure we can handle anything.”

  She reached up to brush her fingers against injured chin and frowned. She didn’t have nearly the same faith in herself after the tavern brawl last night. Any one of the Orion brothers could have easily defeated their entire group.

  I need to get stronger, she thought to herself. Until I can keep everyone I care about safe, I can’t stop leveling.

  Someday, she swore that she would be wearing a gold adventurer’s badge. Or whatever was even higher than that. But first, she had to become a Wayfarer. And hopefully leave this doomed city.

  Together, they descended the stairs to find a nearly vacant main room. Iris was in the kitchen, but no delicious smells of food wafted through the air. She must be starting the cooking fires.

  “I guess we’re not having breakfast?” Piper asked, looking at the kitchen longingly.

  “Not if we want to beat the other groups to the choicest quests,” Basil said. “But fear not. I brought some bread and cheese for us.”

  The thought of some day-old bread and cheese wasn’t nearly as appetizing as bacon, fried potatoes, and pottage. But she supposed that this was a sacrifice she’d have to make if she wanted to earn more tallies for her aspirant badge.

  “I guess that will have to do. Let’s get going.”

  Piper stepped through the inn’s front door as Basil held it open. The street outside was uncharacteristically quiet, with a single stray dog nosing through some trash. On the horizon, the first faint rays of dawn dyed the sky a deep crimson.

  They headed down the street and passed a group of men using shovels and buckets to clear the horse dung from the street. At least she hoped it was horse dung. There wasn’t exactly much in the way of indoor plumbing in the city.

  I’m never going to get used to using chamber pots.

  By the time they reached the guild, the sun was peeking over the roofs of the narrow street. Most of the buildings outside the walls were one or two storeys high. But around the guild, many of them were three to four stories. Some even had stone walls and glass windows—a rarity from what she could tell in the city.

  Already, a few groups of adventurers waited in line outside of the guild. Clearly, they weren’t the only ones hoping to get an early start. Though she understood Basil’s motivations. This way, they could pick what seemed like the safest quests for the group.

  She spotted Selene and Althea standing about halfway down the line. The jester waved at her, bouncing on the balls of her feet. As usual, she looked like she’d spent hours carefully doing her makeup and hair, which couldn’t possibly be true at this hour.

  Meanwhile, if it weren’t for Piper’s [False Face] skill, she’d probably be scaring the local children. She hadn’t had a proper bath for weeks, and her hair probably rivaled the mythical Medusa’s. She’d even forgotten to wash her face this morning in her room’s water basin.

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  Piper decided that if she got back before nightfall, she was going to track down a bath for her and Ophelia. Then she was going to find somewhere to get their clothes laundered. She supposed she could always do it herself by the river, but then she’d have to buy washing supplies.

  “Good morning,” Selene said in her silky voice as they approached. “Did you sleep well?”

  “I could have used a few more hours,” Piper groused. “Do you always get up this early for quests?”

  Selene opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by Althea hurrying over to Piper.

  The sandy-haired healer started to probe around Piper’s jaw without saying a word. She made a few satisfied sounds before narrowing her eyes. “How high did you say your Vitality was? This is healing much faster than I expected…”

  “Five?” Piper lied. She had no idea what a normal Vitality attribute was for someone at her level with a poor class. But her answer seemed to placate Althea.

  “Your jaw is nearly healed,” the woman said, her lips pressing together to form a line. “I don’t suppose you have any troll blood in you?”

  “What?” Piper exclaimed. “No!”

  Selene rolled her eyes at the healer. “How would she have troll blood in her?”

  “A good healer never discounts any theory,” Althea sniffed. “Her healing doesn’t make any sense unless she’s from one of the ascendant realms.”

  For a second, it felt like Piper’s heart froze in her chest. But when the rest of the group started to laugh, it resumed beating normally again. She was starting to realize how stressful it was going to be hiding her true self all the time. Thankfully, she could still be herself around Ophelia.

  While they’d been talking, the female guard from the previous day had appeared at the guild’s front door. She spent a moment unlocking it before swinging it open. Then she stepped aside and signalled for the waiting aspirants to enter.

  As the wannabe wayfarers piled into the building, Piper caught a glimpse of the man with the oversized lizard companion from yesterday. He was doing his best to avoid meeting her gaze.

  When she got a chance, she’d have to find out what he’d seen when he used [Identify]. But at least he hadn’t summoned the guard yet. Which meant he probably didn’t know that she was a demon.

  After a few minutes, it was their turn to enter. They joined a second line waiting for Chloe at the counter to hand out quests. By the time they reached the front of the line, Piper was starting to get antsy.

  Chloe looked up as they approached them, her curly blond hair tied up in a loose bun today. She smiled faintly. “I’m afraid all the wood and bronze quests are already gone.”

  Basil strode forward and placed his hands on the counter. His angular face regarded Chloe coldly. “How are all the quests gone already?”

  The young clerk shrugged her shoulders helplessly. “Not many came in today.”

  Basil rubbed his chin. “What about more difficult ones?”

  “I wouldn’t recommend—”

  “We need the money,” Basil interrupted Chloe. “We’ll take whatever you have.”

  The clerk frowned but then began to shuffle through a sheaf of papers. After a few moments of her making thoughtful noises, she pulled up two sheets of parchment. “These are the only ones you may have a chance of completing. But I would strongly recommend you wait until tomorrow.”

  “I can cover the food today,” Piper offered, the thought of heading back to the inn incredibly alluring. Breakfast should be cooked by now, and she wouldn’t mind a plateful of those wonderful potatoes.

  “No,” Basil said firmly. “It has to be today. I can’t wait a single day.”

  Piper looked around at the others, but no one seemed to object. Finally, with a sigh, she nodded her head. She would go along with whatever the group wanted.

  Basil took the two sheets and read them over. After a few moments, he handed them back to Chloe. “We’ll handle the ratfolk.”

  Selene and Althea exchanged glances, but neither said anything.

  More than anything, Piper wanted to ask what ratfolk were, but she didn’t want to expose her complete lack of knowledge to Chloe. She could ask once they were outside.

  Chloe scribbled something down in the nearby massive tome before smiling at them. “Good luck, and may the Undying Emperor protect you.”

  Basil turned on his heel and strode out of the room. The rest of the group followed at a slower pace, with Piper and Selene taking up the rear.

  As they entered the courtyard outside of the guild, she waited until Basil was out of earshot to speak. “What’s the rush to do quests?”

  Selene glanced ahead and then turned to Piper. “Basil’s in love with a girl from the north. They were engaged to be married and planned to settle down on a plot of land gifted by his parents. But then the undead came and overran his farm. With no land to Basil’s name, the girl’s father cancelled the marriage.”

  “How could they do that to their daughter?”

  The dark-haired woman’s eyebrows lifted a fraction. “Do they not have arranged marriages in the Bloodveil Empire?”

  “Sort of?” Piper shrugged. “Most of the time, people get married because they love each other.”

  Selene exhaled. “I wish that were true here. My life would have been far easier.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s nothing,” Selene brushed her off. “As for Basil, he’s trying to become a wayfarer, so he can earn enough money to buy another farm.”

  “But what he’s doing is putting all of us in danger,” she pointed out. “I could loan all of you a few coppers until we find an easier quest.”

  “And then what?”

  “I don’t understand.” Piper cocked her head to the side.

  “What happens when you run out of coin? Eventually, we’ll have to complete a new quest. If we want to become wayfarers, then we have to take risks sometimes.”

  “But not stupid risks,” Piper insisted. “I’m sure his fiancée would rather wait a bit longer to get married if it meant Basil would be safer.”

  “If he waits too long, she’ll be betrothed to another.”

  Piper frowned. “What about you and Althea? Do you want to risk your lives?”

  “No one is forcing us to go with him.” Selene shrugged. “And more dangerous quests give us a better chance of earning a combat class when we reach level 50. You’re not planning on leaving, are you?”

  “No, of course not. You accepted me into your group, and I owe you all for that.”

  “Then help us defeat the ratfolk.”

  “That brings me to my second question.” Piper rubbed the back of her neck and gave a sheepish smile. “What exactly are ratfolk?”

  Selene regarded her with wide eyes. “You certainly lived a different life across the mountains. Ratfolk are a plague upon the Arissian Empire. They’re not very dangerous in small groups, but when large numbers gather, they can destroy entire cities. It’s why we always seek them out while they’re still in small numbers. Someone must have spotted a burrow near the city.”

  “Are they like giant mutant rats?”

  “Mutant?”

  “Never mind. I meant do they look human?”

  Selene nodded. “They’re shorter than humans and use crude weapons. But don’t underestimate them. They can be very dangerous.”

  Satisfied with the explanation, Piper fell silent as they marched toward the gates. If the ratfolk were anything like the mucklings, she should be fine. She just hoped that the same was true for her group.